By IANS,
Silverstone (Britain) : India’s Karun Chandhok has struck a purple patch here with a stunning drive that saw him starting 10th on the grid and finishing third in the GP2 Feature race.
The 24-year-old from Chennai, who is backed by Red Bull, Punj Lloyd, JK Tyre, Amaron, ICSA Logistics and Sidvin, added to his previous podium finish this year (at another classic track in Monaco) with a stunning performance Saturday that included a vast array of passing manoeuvres.
“That has to be my best race ever in GP2,” said Karun, the iSport International driver who is already a winner in Formula 1’s feeder formula after his victory at Spa-Francorchamps last year.
“My pace was really quick today (Saturday). Considering it’s meant to be difficult to overtake around Silverstone, I don’t think I did too bad – I passed more cars in one day than I have all season!”
Karun gained one position at the start, when Mike Conway made a poor start, forcing him to swerve around the stranded car, and then began to carve his way through the field.
He passed Toyota F1 protégé Kamui Kobayashi at the Abbey chicane, Andy Soucek around the outside of the dauntingly-fast Stowe corner, Luca Filippi at Brooklands, Andi Zuber at Club, GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean at Brooklands and team-mate Bruno Senna during the pitstops.
“Apart from Giorgio Pantano, who won the race, we were faster than everyone else,” he said. “It was such a shame that I got blocked on new tyres in qualifying, or I wouldn’t have been stuck in the traffic in the first place,” he added.
“We knew before the start that the race would be all about managing the tyres, just like they do in Formula 1, because this is one of the toughest tracks of the year. It was such a great race to be involved with, there was so much going on, and it was brilliant to stand on the Silverstone podium,” he said.
“I was quicker than Lucas di Grassi, who finished second, but I just didn’t have the time to catch him. But to finish third from 10th on the grid after passing a lot of guys feels awesome. The team did a great job and I really have to thank them and all the sponsors for their fantastic support,” he added.